R U Next Episode 1 has been finally released on June 30, 2023, which will decide the upcoming girl group from Hybe Labels. Titled (알 유 넥스트?) in Korean, the reality survival show is created by Belift Lab and is hosted by Girls Generation’s Soo-young. Apart from her, the judges include Lee Hyun, Jo Kwon, Aiki, Kim Jae-hwan, Gyu-ri, producers Vincenzo and Mandoo.
The first episode is titled ‘In full speed’ and by performing in the units of 3-4 members, the contestants were put into three levels – High, Mid, and Low. The concept is like a sports event, where they have to overcome seven hurdles to reach the finish line. The seven gateways are – Tryout, Deathmatch, All-rounder, The Specialists, Concept Game, Image Training and Finish Line. Also, the final group lineup will have only 6 members.
As the judges of R U Next sat down, the contestants started entering the sitting area. The 22 contestants are – Iroha, Ji-hyun, Ro-won, Moka, Moa, Young-seo, Chanelle, Jiwoo, Jeong-eun, Himena, Yuisa, Funa, Haseul, Ruka, Yunah, Minju, Jeemin, Ena, Iris, So-yeon, Won-hee and Hye-won. On their name tags, a number could be seen and it referred to their ranking based on the last month’s internal and monthly evaluation of trainees at Hybe.
Jeemin was ranked first and Yunah was ranked second among the lot. There were two contestants who had zero ranking since they have been trainees for less than a month and weren’t evaluated. According to their ranking, they were given practising jerseys with that number along with their personal lockers. It’s presumable that ranking and level results will be delivered to them through the lockers as well. After each round, their ranking will keep on changing till the finale.
The first round called Tryouts was held in the first episode and it was revealed that the contestants will be evaluated within the unit. It means if it’s a three-member unit, then one will get a High level, other gets Mid and low respectively. They cannot give all the members one level.
Tryouts
The first unit to be called on stage named themselves, ‘Bad Me Girls’ and consisted of Jiwoo, Jong-eun and Chanelle. They were called the vocalist’s teams and performed Red Velvet’s Bad Boy. The judges commented that didn’t seem to enjoy the stage enough and gave high rank to Jong-eun, while Chanelle got Mid and Jiwoo got low rank.
The second unit was called ‘Powerful Kitties’ and consisted of Iroha, Ji-hyun and Rowon. They were called the dance team by others on R U Next and performed on ITZY’s Dalla Dalla. After their unit performance, each member was asked to show their dance skills individually and including that Iroha was put in High level, Rowon in Mid and Ji-hyun in the low level.
The third unit was called ‘16,200,000’ and consisted of Ena, Iris, Seo-yeon and Won-hee. They were the youngest contestants with the shortest amount of trainee period. Iris was asked to show her Latin dance skills before performing Dreams Come True aespa’s version, with the unit. The lack of skills and confidence was evident in their performance and among them Iris and Seo-yeon for high level, Won-hee got Mid and Ena got low level.
The fourth unit was called ‘I Want’ and consisted of Moka, Young-seo and Moa. Their performance stunned everyone and the judges commented on how they can debut just like that. They grabbed everyone’s attention from the start and deserved to get high level for all but as per the rules, Yeong-seo got high level, Moka was given Mid and Moa got low level.
The fifth group was called ‘Miss Top’ and consisted of Jeemin, Yunah and Minju – the contestants who were ranked 1,2 and 3 respectively. They chose Miss A’s Bad Girl, Good Girl to perform, which will be revealed next week.
R U Next Episode 1 Review
R U Next seems to be quite fierce regarding the survival aspect. Evaluating within the group definitely made many nervous and even putting them on different levels was a new concept. Usually, the contestants form groups from the start and stay together with them but this move will urge them to work with different members.
However, putting contestants as young as 13 with 21-22-year-olds doesn’t seem right. Obviously, a 13-year-old would not have that much of a trainee period or skills and then sternly telling them to get better in a matter of days/weeks will only be stressful. And it’s just heartbreaking to see such young kids’ dreams of debuting get broken and they lose confidence in themselves.
R U Next will be broadcasted at 08:50 PM KST on JTBC and will also be live-streamed on Hybe Labels’ YouTube Channel. Viewers can also vote for their favourite contestant on the Weverse app.
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